WPA Coming to ROKU M1001

One of the big knocks against the Roku Soundbridge has been the lack of support for wireless networks with WPA encryption. Only WEP security - which isn't very secure but is better than nothing - has been supported thus far. Not only that, but the Soundbridge is a wireless-B device, which, if I understand correctly, brings everything on your wireless-G network down to wireless-B transfer rates...

So if you aren't inclined to run Ethernet cable from your computer to your Roku (which is probably nowhere near your computer, which is why you needed it in the first place), you've been left with WEP.

Roku has been very good about publishing updates to the system firmware and involving the community in the testing process. The 2.7 version of the firmware, currently in beta, is the first to support WPA.

Unfortunately, older Soundbridge models, such as the M1000, are left in the cold because they support an older WiFi chipset and driver. Still, the presence of WPA is enough to give the Soundbridge the one thing that was missing and keep me from thinking too much about Apple's iTV for awhile.